This apparatus is intended to be compatible with the dough shaping apparatus disclosed in the copending application entitled IMPROVED SPHEROID-FORMING DOUGH-SHAPING APPARATUS, by the inventor of this invention, as well as other dough shaping devices as are known in the art and typified by the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,433,182, AUTOMATIC FEEDING CUT-OFF AND BAGEL-FORMING MACHINE issued Mar. 18, 1969 also by the inventor this invention. Each of these devices provide means for the shaping of rectangular solid chunks of dough into desired shapes of finished dough product, specifically spheroids and toroids.
Of primary concern in the design of dough shaping, dividing and cutting devices in the minimization of dough working and punishment. As exemplified in the prior art devices, such working or punishment is caused by the compressive and shear stresses imparted to the dough during the shaping, dividing, and cutting processes. These forces tend to produce excessive nonuniform plastic deformation of the dough in excess of that ordinarily necessary to form the dough to the desired shape. This excess deformation produces frictional heat which causes premature rising of the dough, resulting in a tougher finished product as well as nonuniformity due to selective working of different portions of the dough product. It is thus desirable to minimize dough working or punishment.
The prior art devices also utilize dough shaping and cutting operations wherein whereby a nonuniform bulk of dough is compressed between pairs of compression rollers to a uniform thickness and then cut into generally rectangular solids by a transversely moving cut-off blade having no component of motion in the direction of motion of the dough. This motion of the cutting blade causes dough to temporarily accumulate behind the blade as the dough continues to feed dough toward the blade. Thus, the dough undergoes undesirable compressive deformation by the blade.
These devices also have no means for controlling the infeeding of the dough which, unless controlled, can produce excessive longitudinal deformation of the dough.
Another prior apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,792,940, EASILY CLEANED BAGEL-FORMING MACHINE, issued Feb. 19, 1974, also to the inventor of the present invention. This patent teaches the use of a circular knife on a forming roller for the purpose of dividing a wide bulk strip of dough into narrower strips for subsequent cutting and shaping. This apparatus adequately accomplishes the dividing function with a minimum of working, but is limited to dividing a uniform batch of dough into two or three strips as divergent paths are required subsequent to the dividing blade to prevent the divided strips from readhering to each other. More than three divergent paths would cause unnecessary working of the dough as the path of each strip must more severely bend away from the others. It would thus be desireable to provide more than three strips of dough, as that would allow a faster production rate of the dough elements.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to minimize dough working in a dough forming, cutting and shaping apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a uniform volume of dough while preventing buildup of dough to minimize compression of the dough.
It is a further object of the present invention to produce multiple strips of dough of a uniform cross-section with a dough dividing and shaping means that minimizes dough working and which is expandable to produce additional strips without an increase in dough working.
It is yet another object of the present invention to cut dough strips with a blade having a component of motion in the direction of travel of the dough to prevent dough build up behind the blade and to prevent the deformation caused thereby.
It is a still further object of the present invention to feed dough to a forming, dividing and cutting apparatus without excessive longitudinal dough deformation.
It is also an object of the present invention to produce a generally rectangular solid of dough product having a uniform and predetermined weight, volume and dimension which is usuable by spheroidal or toroidal dough forming devices.
It is yet a further object of the present invention provide a dough forming, dividing, and cutting apparatus in which the volume and shape of the resulting rectangular dough product is easily adjustable.